In the video linked below, a Facebook user named Purnell Good has uploaded a smartphone video that appears to resolve the mystery surrounding unidentified noises being reported in British Columbia around the Terrace area.

Video showing purported solution to Terrace “mystery noise”

At approximately 8:10 AM local time, Good made the video depicting a grader dragging its metal blade as it travels across a parking lot.

The sounds created by the grader do appear to match the “mystery noise” that had been reported previously, which were accompanied by videos posted online by baffled Terrace residents.

The Terrace mystery noise has actually been reported for a number of years. In 2013, Kimberly Wookey (the same YouTube user whose more recent video was featured here yesterday) recorded the sounds near her home, which made headlines in Canada at the time as seen here.

A physicist at the University of Saskatchewan had previously suggested the noises might be “electromagnetic noise emitted from auroras and radiation belts.”

However, based on Purnell Good’s video, the mystery noise appears to have had a far more prosaic explanation.

Others have expressed that there may be alternate sources behind the noises, and not just industrial graders. One commenter named Leah Derby argued instead that the noises can be caused by a train being dragged while its brakes are set. “I work on the railroad and this is a common noise to us. It’s gawdawful, but it’s a normal train yard noise,” said Derby.

CFTK News has reported that city officials in Terrace have confirmed that the graders are responsible for the noises.

Addendum: Also see Sharon Hill’s article from Doubtful News (linked in the comments below), which looked at the railroad yard noises which caused similar interest at that time.

Special thanks to Chris Johansen for the tip. Image by Tipthejust via Wikimedia Commons.